Antlers?

[Dana]

Had a thought/question about Antlers......

 

 Antlers are shed naturally but what if it came from a sick animal could illness be transfered through chewing & injesting.

 

How are the antlers processed?  Are they processed?

 

Mac is a hard chewer & just loves his antlers. 

[Dana]

Too tired to read tonight - added the link to my to do list.

[F, Calla & Luca]

I couldn't reply directly Karen since no more reply to this was available, but yes, I think some of these human diseases have about a 20 year span from ingestion of diseased brain, of course some of these studies were done on cannibals, I kid you not. Remember, much of my in-head medical information is almost as old as me : )

[Pat & "Tucker"]

I think the safest thing you can do with bones of any sort is to boil them before use. I wouldn't worry about prion disease of any sort so much, more worry about salmonella and other bacteria. Yes - one can get prion from bone meal. The incubation period for CJD is so long, it can not be estimated how many humans will have prion disease in years to come.
Boil your bones!

[Nancy, Ned, Clancy, and Charlie]

Kind of off topic but related. Do bullysticks 'spoil?' I left a couple of partially chewed ones in the RV a couple of weeks ago and it has been HOT Really HOT (like 106) and humid - kind of like Florida. A closed RV in this weather probably gets 120 or 130 degrees. Normally, do you refrigerate them between chewing sessions?

[F, Calla & Luca]

Good question. I think they'd be fine in the dried state they come in but after being chewed and getting wet with saliva and bacteria they could spoil. I'd ditch them. I have some that I haven't used of late because I didn't like the "outcome".

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Bully sticks remind me of hard salami, and hard salami does get moldy if it hangs there long enough. (Oh the field day for a Freudian in that one sentence alone.) But it's late and i'm running on fumes emotionally & physically, so let the jokes fall where they may.

[F, Calla & Luca]

Rest assured I for one wouldn't go near that with a 10 foot pole-teehee.

[Kim]

When I used to give Allie Bully Sticks - I would freeze them in between sessions. She was obsessed with the freezer door at 7pm!

[Nancy, Ned, Clancy, and Charlie]

Thanks guys. The bully sticks are history. :) My guys first and only foray into the world of bully sticks. they were a gift to keep them occupied while I cleaned ears. Didn't work but they enjoyed them.

[Jane, Guinness and Murphy]

I was at my pet store today to get a few things (including antlers), and I asked the owner our "antler question". Here's what she had to say which I thought made sense. She had the same concern that was discussed here, and she did some of her own research before she decided to carry antlers in her store. She made the decision to only buy from two farms that raise deer primarily for food, but they also sell the antlers. She said that the farm was FDA regulated, and therefore the safety of the antlers would be controlled (as much as FDA oversight does). If the meat wasn't coming from diseased deer, then the antlers would not either. She said she had decided not to purchase from any of the wholesalers who sell the antlers harvested "in the wild" because she thought there were too many unknowns. She was certainly not raising any "flags", but she said she won't sell anything she wouldn't give to her own dogs. Actually, she now only sells Orijen, Acana or Fromms food in her store, so she really is committed. So for now, I'm okay continuing to give my guys antlers (thoroughly washed), and I'll only buy them from her.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Ask her if she'd like to open a franchise here in the Chicago suburbs. I'll run it. What a great resource!

[Betsi]

Hi guys! I'm a new doodle mom, but have had dogs all of my life. So here's my question. My husband is a deer hunter. We have LOTS of antlers that have been saved after the deer meat has been processed. Is there anything special I need to do to these antlers, besides wash them, before I let Kirby chew on them?